The Elementalist Lucia [One Piece x OC fanfiction]

XXIX - Things will change

Days, weeks passed and before they knew it, the Heart crew had reached the island where they were to drop Lucia off. In all, with the many setbacks, it had been just over two months since the end of the Summit War. Lucia was doing better, her wounds had almost completely healed. She had removed the bandages that covered her wrists and there was only a bandage covering her chest and the wounds inflicted by Akainu. Her training with the pirate crew had also paid off, she had grown stronger and had fully recovered. Her Haki and devil fruit had been refined, and she had also acquired a good foundation as a swordswoman. Finally, as she spent her last night in the small hammock of the common dormitory, she began to think that she might regret her little life here. She suppressed a smile, who could have thought that she would grow fond of these pirates. They had taken her in, listened to her, cared for her, physically and psychologically. A snore drew a grimace from her, this was something she wouldn't miss. Unable to sleep, she decided to take her last nightly stroll through the corridors of the submarine. She walked slowly through the metal maze, stopping occasionally to listen to the thud of the sea currents against the hull. Without realizing it, her steps led her to the control room. She pushed open the door, noticed the ever-present fur hat sticking out of the main seat and, without a word, took her place on the second seat beside it. There was a short silence before he spoke:

"You should sleep."

"I'm doing you the great honour of preferring to spend my last evening here with you, so for once, shut up, will you?" Lucia replied, an amused smile on her lips.

"Well then, kid, are we sentimental?"

"Maybe..." she breathed.

They exchanged a look that had nothing hostile about it. The two had, it seemed, definitively buried the hatchet. A mutual respect had been firmly established between them and had disregarded their respective prides, even if the jibes and taunts continued to make up the bulk of their discussions. After discovering her sleeping in the archive room, Law had taken the time the next day to come and talk to her about his research and show her his own work, sharing with her what he knew about devil fruits or even Haki. They had spent several hours sitting in the dining hall in front of books, debating and extrapolating on these subjects, on the possibilities of use for Lucia or even for him. No animosity, no contempt, they had discussed the same subject like two adults, in a reasoned and argued manner. They had never admitted it to each other, but they had both enjoyed the moment, having discovered each other a second time, beyond their arrogance and impulsiveness. They had then established this little habit of eating together in the morning, just to discuss these more serious subjects, sometimes to catch up on news with the newspaper. She had described the sea currents around the ship, which she felt more clearly than they did, and had given him some indications as to the direction to take to cross them safely. She had discovered that Trafalgar Law was not just a bundle of bad temper and sadism, and he had discovered that Gol D Lucia was not just a temperamental child.

"What's its name?" she asked suddenly. "Your ship? It must have a name, right? I've been here two months and I have no idea how it's called..."

"The Polar Tang," Law answered soberly.

"The Polar Tang..." Lucia repeated. "It suits him. As cold as its captain."

"Your record's broken, kid," he replied, his eyes closed.

"Yours too, Trafalgar."

She hesitated before continuing:

"Besides, it's not true... you're not as cold as you'd like to believe."

He opened one eye, intrigued. She continued to stare at the large glass window overlooking the ocean as she spoke:

"I despise pirates who only kill and crush others for the sake of their bounty, in my eyes they are no better than nobles or even celestial dragons. And despite the fact that you're doing everything you can to make it seem like you're just a cruel and heartless pirate, without any mercy, I understood that it wasn't the case."